The three Rs
Encyclopedia
The three Rs are the foundations of a basic skills
-orientated education program within schools: Reading, wRiting and aRithmetic.
The phrase is attributed to a toast given by Sir William Curtis around 1825. Since its original creation, many others have created new words for what the Rs stand for.
Etymology=
The phrase 'the three Rs' is used because each word in the phrase has a strong R phoneme
(sound) at the beginning. The term is ironic, since someone with a firm education in the subjects would know that two of the original words do not actually begin with an R. The third R was more probably Reckoning, not as is more usually stated 'Rithmetic. Reckoning was a Victorian term for mental arithmetic and had been in use as such since the 14th Century. Newer versions of the three Rs include Reduce
, Reuse
, Recycle - which is a popular theme in environmentalism (alternatively, there is a fourth "R" in environmentalism, which is Repair) - and Read, Write, Recite. The educationalist Louis P. Bénézet
preferred "to read", "to reason", "to recite", adding, "by reciting I did not mean giving back, verbatim, the words of the teacher or of the textbook. I meant speaking the English language."
The Three Rs in the United States=
Washington State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Terry Bergeson
, has identified the new 3 Rs from Robert Carkhuff's 3 Rs as Relating, Representing and Reasoning. Carkhuff was a self-published consultant paid $1 million to provide materials to help design Washington State's controversial standards based education reform program. Terry Bergeson
has pledged that that all would receive world class standards diplomas, yet one half of all students and three-quarters of minority students are on track to have their diplomas revoked in 2008 because they do not pass the new 3 Rs standard set by the WASL
standards based assessment. While over half of US students will be required to pass similar High school graduation examination
s, because of objections from parents and education experts, no more states have adopted such requirements and some have dropped them in 2006. Advocates of the traditional education
question how students who struggle with basic skills can be expected to be more successful at higher developmental higher order thinking levels. States like California abandoned similar standards in the late 1990s in favor of returning to basic skills.
See also =
Basic skills
Basic skills can be compared to higher order thinking skills. Facts and methods are highly valued under the back-to-basics approach to education....
-orientated education program within schools: Reading, wRiting and aRithmetic.
The phrase is attributed to a toast given by Sir William Curtis around 1825. Since its original creation, many others have created new words for what the Rs stand for.
Etymology=
The phrase 'the three Rs' is used because each word in the phrase has a strong R phoneme
Phoneme
In a language or dialect, a phoneme is the smallest segmental unit of sound employed to form meaningful contrasts between utterances....
(sound) at the beginning. The term is ironic, since someone with a firm education in the subjects would know that two of the original words do not actually begin with an R. The third R was more probably Reckoning, not as is more usually stated 'Rithmetic. Reckoning was a Victorian term for mental arithmetic and had been in use as such since the 14th Century. Newer versions of the three Rs include Reduce
Waste minimisation
Waste minimization is the process and the policy of reducing the amount of waste produced by a person or a society.Waste minimization involves efforts to minimize resource and energy use during manufacture. For the same commercial output, usually the fewer materials are used, the less waste is...
, Reuse
Reuse
To reuse is to use an item more than once. This includes conventional reuse where the item is used again for the same function, and new-life reuse where it is used for a different function. In contrast, recycling is the breaking down of the used item into raw materials which are used to make new...
, Recycle - which is a popular theme in environmentalism (alternatively, there is a fourth "R" in environmentalism, which is Repair) - and Read, Write, Recite. The educationalist Louis P. Bénézet
Louis P. Bénézet
Louis Paul Bénézet was an American educator and writer who pioneered the reform of school education in the early twentieth century.-Early Career:...
preferred "to read", "to reason", "to recite", adding, "by reciting I did not mean giving back, verbatim, the words of the teacher or of the textbook. I meant speaking the English language."
The Three Rs in the United States=
Washington State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Terry Bergeson
Terry Bergeson
Teresa "Terry" Bergeson is a former three-term Washington State Superintendent of Public Instruction.-Biography:Dr. Bergeson graduated from Emmanuel College in 1964 with a B.A. in English. In 1969, she earned a master's degree in counseling and guidance from Western Michigan University...
, has identified the new 3 Rs from Robert Carkhuff's 3 Rs as Relating, Representing and Reasoning. Carkhuff was a self-published consultant paid $1 million to provide materials to help design Washington State's controversial standards based education reform program. Terry Bergeson
Terry Bergeson
Teresa "Terry" Bergeson is a former three-term Washington State Superintendent of Public Instruction.-Biography:Dr. Bergeson graduated from Emmanuel College in 1964 with a B.A. in English. In 1969, she earned a master's degree in counseling and guidance from Western Michigan University...
has pledged that that all would receive world class standards diplomas, yet one half of all students and three-quarters of minority students are on track to have their diplomas revoked in 2008 because they do not pass the new 3 Rs standard set by the WASL
Washington Assessment of Student Learning
The Washington Assessment of Student Learning was a standardized educational assessment system given as the primary assessment in the state of Washington from spring 1997 to summer 2009. The WASL was also used as a high school graduation examination beginning in the spring of 2006 and ending in 2009...
standards based assessment. While over half of US students will be required to pass similar High school graduation examination
High school graduation examination
A high school graduation examination is a test that students must pass to receive a diploma and graduate from high school. These are usually criterion-referenced tests which were implemented as part of a comprehensive standards-based education reform program which sets into place new standards...
s, because of objections from parents and education experts, no more states have adopted such requirements and some have dropped them in 2006. Advocates of the traditional education
Traditional education
Traditional education or back-to-basics refers to long-established customs found in schools that society has traditionally deemed appropriate. Some forms of education reform promote the adoption of progressive education practices, a more holistic approach which focuses on individual students'...
question how students who struggle with basic skills can be expected to be more successful at higher developmental higher order thinking levels. States like California abandoned similar standards in the late 1990s in favor of returning to basic skills.
See also =
- Standards based education reform
- Traditional educationTraditional educationTraditional education or back-to-basics refers to long-established customs found in schools that society has traditionally deemed appropriate. Some forms of education reform promote the adoption of progressive education practices, a more holistic approach which focuses on individual students'...
- Trivium (education)